Going into the process my top school was Wharton. I spoke with a number of admissions consultants, but felt like SOP would in the end be most interested in helping me achieve my goal and I was correct. Kathryn was encouraging, but also realistic when it came to my chances of getting into the schools I applied to and I didn’t get the same sales pitch to lower my bar that I received everywhere else. The SOP team was genuinely interested in seeing me succeed at the school of my choice and this was clearly highlighted throughout my process.

I knew going in, that as a male in finance without any real cultural diversity, it would be particularly challenging to differentiate myself and stand-out. I also didn’t have an “inside track” or advocates for me at the schools I was applying to.

In my first attempt, to my and SOP’s disappointment I was not invited to interview at any of the three schools I applied to. Prior to signing up with SOP, Kathryn explicitly made me aware of the risk I was taking by setting the bar so high, but also worked closely with me over the next year to improve my story so I could re-apply this year with much different results. This time around I was accepted into two of the three schools, including my top choice where I will be starting this August. The process taught me that getting into a top school is a far more competitive process than I initially thought and having a team like SOP with me throughout was critical to my success. I would highly recommend their team to anyone embarking on this journey, especially if you are trying to get into a top program.

Read More

My experience with Square One Prep has been remarkable. I can safely say that without Melissa and Kathryn, I wouldn’t get accepted to my dream school, Wharton!

When I first contacted Kathryn for free consultation, she gave me a very candid yet on-point assessment. My consultant, Melissa Chan Estrella, was equally professional, thorough, and helpful. She really took the time and effort to listen to my story, challenge me with though-provoking questions, and help me craft a strong narrative out of it. Melissa and Kathryn really struck the right balance between being rigorous and sympathetic. They wouldn’t accept mediocre work and helped me put together the strongest application. During our relationship, there was not a single time I felt that this was purely transactional. They genuinely care and want me to succeed and I think that it is their defining characteristic.

For me, this application had been a long, arduous, yet rewarding journey and I am glad to have chosen Square One Prep as my partner.

Read More

I was initially hesitant to work with a consultant because I was concerned that the incentives for consultants were skewed as they get paid regardless of where you are admitted so have an incentive to undersell your potential and often ask you to adjust down your expectations. After reaching out to 6 consulting services (many of whom told me not to apply to my dream school), I found Kathryn was the only one I spoke with who actually took the time to understand my background. I knew for sure I wanted to use her services when I asked her “Based on my profile where do you think I should apply?” I asked this of all consultants, because it was my gauge for how aligned their incentives were with mine. She said I should only apply to schools I am excited to attend and that she would never presume to know which schools I should apply to. (she also said I hadn’t done enough work into answering this question for myself, which was a dose of the refreshing honesty I needed).

In terms of the key areas in which her assistance was crucial:

I have a nontraditional background, so was scared about how that background would be perceived by adcoms. She helped me incorporate that background into my optional essay in a way that was concise but effective (Had I not worked with her, I would likely have written something far more verbose and likely not what the adcom would like to read).

My goals were too vague and after discussing with her, I realized I needed to be more introspective and specific with my goals. Also, my resume was written with too much industry nomenclature and needed to be revised.

I had several questions along the way (should I fly to the schools to show interest in the programs I was interested in? What are admit rates in different rounds pre and post interview? Will my older age be a hindrance?) She quickly addressed all these questions and more which I would have struggled answering on my own. TBH, she provided almost as much value assuaging the emotional tension of applying to MBA programs as value provided by helping me sculpt my MBA applications.

Most importantly, she worked with me through the essays to help me find the information that most expresses who I am and what I contribute to a program.

At the end of the day you are paying a consultant to help you put your best foot forward. Kathryn helped me realize when I was falling short and therefore needed to put in more effort.

I was admitted to Columbia Business School and will be attending in the fall! I couldn't be more excited, since it has been my dream to attend CBS.

An additional note, one of my coworkers applied a year ago to the same program I was admitted to and had slightly better stats (better GPA from better school, more extracurriculars, but slightly lower GMAT). He was not offered an interview invite. I truly believe the difference was Kathryn’s guidance.

Read More

As a reapplicant one can assume you want to know what went wrong with your original applications. Kathryn took the time to review in detail all my essays and resume prior to having an initial call with me to discuss my plan of action. It was clear to me that I had to tighten up my story. I chose to work with SquareOne because I felt that the team had genuine confidence in my profile. This was not the case with several other firms I spoke to. Together with Kathryn and Katherine, we discussed in DETAIL how I can focus my applications and shape my career aspirations whilst staying true to my own voice. Admittedly, I struggled with this and it took team effort to express my vision effectively. Finally, I want to highlight the value of having over 20 successful sample essays to read per school of choice. One gets a feeling for the necessary variations in style.

Read More

Coming from a non-traditional background, I knew that I would need guidance throughout the MBA admission process. I managed to prepare for the GMAT by myself, but I was clueless regarding the other pieces of the admission forms.

My salary as a civil servant meant I couldn’t afford the premium rate of admission consultancy firms. One day, I noticed that SOP offers a 3-schools free package for 2 applicants based on their need and merit. I ended up being one of the 2 lucky folks. To my knowledge, SOP is the only firm that does this.

I cannot begin to describe how valuable Kathryn and Krasina’s help has been to me. It wasn’t easy though; SOP pushed me further than I expected. My consultant’s advice was critical to my success. The introspection and the career narrative process made me ask myself the right questions. I never would never have been able to do this by myself. I believe that going through those steps with SOP will even help me in my future career!

On top of strategizing with me, SOP also made sure that my resume, essays and interview shine without sounding off. Thanks to SOP, I was admitted to Judge with merit scholarship and INSEAD.

Read More

Given the time and monetary commitment that an MBA demands, I was very clear that I wanted to apply only to the top B-schools. After talking to 2 consultants, both of whom had suggested going with ‘safer’ options, I was a bit disappointed. The initial consultation with Kathryn stretched well beyond the designated time, during which she talked realistically about my case, yet reinforced my confidence in my application. I realized that with SOP’s help, I stood a chance at my target schools. She helped me come up with a strong strategy around which schools to apply to.
Melissa got on a 3-hour call with me to thoroughly understand my background. We then methodically brainstormed each element of my application – resume editing, building the career narrative, recommendation strategy. She helped me refine all parts of my application – with very quick turnaround times – which left me with a lot of time to work on my essays. She patiently guided me through the process (with each essay undergoing several iterations) and helped me transform facts and figures into interesting narratives. The several mocks Melissa and I did prior to my INSEAD interviews made the actual interview experience much smoother.
In the end, I secured a place at INSEAD – thanks to SOP!

Read More

Summary in one sentence: without Kathryn my MBA application success would not be possible.
Before I started my MBA application with Kathryn, my target school was any of the S16 schools.
But at the end, I received Columbia Business School's admission!

I did research on many consultants and used their free consultation. Kathryn was the first one I contacted. During the 40 minutes of the consultation, she didn't waste even one minute talking about her or her company: every minute was spent on me, on MY case. She listened carefully when I talked about my background, career goals, target schools and so on, taking notes. And her immediate responses on my case were already deep and thoughtful. Most importantly she provided her truthful analysis without any hesitation, even I was not her client yet.

Later on, I contacted at least 5 other top rated consulting companies on gmatclub for free consultation, expecting the same kind of services as provided by Kathryn. However, none of those free consultations came even close. For some of them, they might spend the first 15-20 minutes talking about their "superb" services and then another 10-15 minutes asking about me. For one of them, the consultant was only selling their services for almost 30 minutes! And I had to interrupt to redirect the discussion to my case!

At the end, the choice was quite obvious. I contacted Kathryn again to use her service. When Kathryn asked me if I would use her or one of her consultants, I said "you" without any hesitation, although her price was quite a bit more expensive, because I knew she was the only one that I can trust 100%!

The choice proved to be absolutely correct and worth it. From the 3+-hour deep walk-through of experience, to resume editing, to essay brainstorming and editing, to recommendation strategy, to interview mocks, every single time, Kathryn was so professionally accurate, sharp and efficient, with great care and thorough understanding of my case. She made sure my story is complete and logically making sense, and I don't divert from it, especially in my interview. I think this focus made the core message much stronger to the admission officers and the interviewer, a key to our success.

At the end, I would like to thank her again. As I said, without her, CBS is not possible for me. And I would recommend her to any MBA applicants without any hesitation, as actually I already did to a couple of potential applicants in my real life.

Read More

After deciding to apply to b-school with less than a month before deadlines and with an extensive target list of schools, I quickly was overwhelmed with the application process. I reached out to Square One and from the initial consultation through each school's deadline, I was impressed with their ability to help me navigate this complicated journey. Kathryn and Collin provided honest and real feedback (with a quick turnaround at any hour), while consistently making sure that my application had a clear narrative that uniquely represented me. Their ability to help me connect a career trajectory that was disjointed along with their ability to push me to think past the superficial details of my experiences enabled me to not only grow personally, but also prepared me incredibly for business school. I could not have asked for a better partner and I highly recommend them.

Read More

I hired Square One after doing due diligence on 6 different admissions consultants (Scott at Personal MBA Coach, Debbie at MBAMission, Judith at Fortuna were the other top contenders for me). I needed help telling my story in a concise way (public ivy, 5 years in consulting and tech, 3.4 GPA, 740 GMAT).

I'm happy to report that, with Square One's support, I was accepted into Wharton's Lauder program (MBA/MA International Studies joint degree). This is a program I've been dreaming about for the last 5 years, and they made it happen.

Before Square One, I actually started working with Stacey Blackman, who set me up with Paul, one of their veterans. The guy was totally unprepared for our first call - he was late, did not set an agenda, and was reading my resume for the first time as he rambled. I bailed after he completely missed our second call. Unforgivable at $300+ per hour.

Thankfully, Square One was another level of professionalism. I was set up with Josh, who was really patient and spent hours with me to refine my business school story.

Key areas that he excelled in, in order of importance - helped set up my recommenders so that their letters could thoughtfully add more to my story, completely reformatted my resume, and shared essays from a ton of previously successful admits to my top choice schools (inspired my own writing).

Key areas that he needed to improve - Josh wasn't a huge value add for my essays. Writing these are more of a personal journey anyway, but it would have been better to have his frequent input. Josh became less and less available as time went on, often taking days / up to a week to respond (when we started, we were in touch over text and he would have updates for me within literally seconds), as he had a side business that he worked on while advising me. When Kathryn got this feedback, she let Josh go. I then worked directly with Kathryn, the founder. She helped me get through the finish line, and she is by far the best admissions consultant I have worked with. Her insight on what's important to the schools really showed. If you have the chance, work with Kathryn.

One area that I went to someone else for - Judith at Fortuna ran an incredible mock interview for Wharton's Team-Based Discussion. Judith previously worked at the Wharton adcom, and it showed. A group of us jumped on a conference call, and walked through a real-life TBD facilitated by Judith. She gave us really solid individualized feedback after the fact. If I had not done this, I would not have had nearly the same confidence in the real TBD. Kathryn at Square One did not offer this service - I wish she did!

Final takeaways - I think the polish on my rec letter requests, resume, and interview prep all contributed to getting my acceptance letter. My advice is to spend a lot of time finding the right consultant who is backed with the right resources. I found that with Square One, and am pretty thankful for it.

Read More

Prior to working with Square One Prep I interviewed numerous other consultancies and went with SOP as it was clear that it was the best place to get the most individualized advice to get into my dream schools. I cannot reaffirm strongly enough that my initial rationale was validated after working with the SOP team. I worked numerous hours hand-in-hand with both my consultant and Kathryn herself. This includes spending hours on the phone with Kathryn from my hotel in Evanston the night prior to my interview with Kellogg. I can unequivocally say that working with Kathryn helped me open the doors to getting into my dream school. I received such tailored advice to highlight the uniqueness of my qualities despite coming from an overrepresented demographic. I was pushed to soul search and write truly genuine essays that actually helped me progress personally, in addition to getting into Kellogg.

Key takeaways:

I had subpar performance on my GMAT and was able to get into Kellogg despite the unflattering score. Kathryn helped me articulate my unique story in such a way that adcoms were able to look past my GMAT score to see the valuable addition that I would be to their class and their alumni base.

I was waitlisted originally yet, once again, Kathryn gave me the insight to navigate the process from everything to writing follow-up correspondence with the admissions department to getting additional and follow-up recommendations. Had it not been for her guidance, I am confident that I would have made missteps that could have resulted in me not getting off of the waitlist.

I cannot recommend a partner to help you navigate the entire process from resume construction through waitlist follow-ups more strongly than Square One Prep.

Read More